An art exhibition chronicling one Chilliwack artist’s life over the past 27 years is currently gracing the walls of the Chilliwack Cultural Centre art gallery.
Mixed media artist, Krista Kilvert, has her solo show Relic on display now until Nov. 21 in the O’Connor Group Art Gallery.
“It’s relics of my past, relics of pieces of artwork that I’ve done over those 27 years.”
There’s a wide variety of materials used in her work, from everyday objects like old garden tools to found objects from the ocean to handmade leaf-shaped crystal castings. The pieces of artwork include photographs transferred onto galvanized metal, large-scale fabric prints, and crystal objects strewn upon multi-layered imaged glass.
Her work is very conceptually based, meaning everything starts with an idea or a concept and she works the project around that.
One piece called ‘Cultivating Data’ combines reclaimed garden tools with vintage circuit boards, while a sea-themed piece brings together images printed on glass with a washed up bottle from the ocean that’s been calcified plus a mangled plastic container with marine life still attached it.
“It’s a reminder of what we’re doing to the environment.”
Many of the pieces in Relic feature handmade crystal shapes, like leaves and shells, that have a special dichroic coating on them, giving them the appearance of being lit up from within.
Some of the most prominent pieces are large photographs printed on fabric. For one of them, she’s overlaid two different images she took on two separate occasions while at the Bailey Landfill.
The lightweight images gently move while hanging on the wall thanks to the art gallery’s air circulation system. It makes them “quite ethereal,” Kilvert said.
“It’s like this billowing pile of junk that’s always moving.”
It may appear that her work is quite diverse because she’s not working in a particular medium or style, but the pieces are all conceptually linked in their focus on environmental, technological and social changes experienced during her lifetime.
“I find a lot of this is as relevant today as when I created it at that time, especially the soother cell phone,” she said referring to one of her pieces.
Kilvert doesn’t like to speak too much on her views of her own artwork.
“I feel the work should speak for itself.”
So instead of her answering questions like “Why would I put those objects together?” and “What am I trying to convey?” she wants the viewer to try and figure that out for themselves. She wants the work to be a platform for viewer dialogue and thought.
“I hope that it will stimulate some thought about the environment. I think the goal is just to have people moved in any which way.”
Relic by mixed media artist Krista Kilvert is on display until Nov. 21 in the O’Connor Group Art Gallery at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre. Gallery hours are Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
The following COVID-19 protocols are in place for the gallery: maximum of five viewers at a time; people will be required to wear face masks that fully cover the mouth and nose; name and phone numbers will be collected at the entrance for contact tracing purposes.
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